Embossing-die



E. E. NOVOTNY.

'EMBOSSING DIE.

APPLICATION FILED DECI I3, 1916.

Patented May W, 1921..

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EMIL E. NGVOTNY, 0F RIVERSIDE, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOB TO J. STOGDELL STOKES, 0F MOORESTOWN, NEW JERSEY.

EMBOSSING-DIE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May iltl, 1921.,

Application filed December 13, 191 6. Serial No. 136,674.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, EMIL E. NovoTNY, a citizen of the United States, and resident of Riverside, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Embossing Dies, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to the production of embossing dies adapted for use in the printing art One of the objects of the present invention is the formation of embossing dies, either male or female, or both, from a body of plastic material, such as a phenolic condensation product of which several forms are well known, among these being bake lite and condensite. Such a phenolic condensation product which as is well known is a synthetic resin, possesses certain distinct advantages which render it peculiarly adapted for the present purpose, inasmuch as in certain of its forms this product, after it has been set is infusible, so that a die or dies made of this material are capable of withstanding the heat andpressure encountered in hot embossing work.

Furthermore, such a product also possesses the attributes of incompressibility, strength, durability and rigidity, and consequently dies made of this substance are not liable to deteriorate rapidly under the wear and tear of actual work, as is the case with dies of the usual material.

In the present instance, in the explanation of my invention, I will describe the female die as made from a metallic faced phenolic plate, such as forms the subject matter of my co-pending application No.

98,909, filed May 20, 1916, and will further describe the male die as being in the nature of an ordinary printing metallic plate, or etching, but I wish it to be understood that both dies may, if desired, be made entirely of the phenolic condensation product.

My invention may be employed in con nection with either hot or cold embossing, and is particularly useful in the former case, inasmuch as when the phenolic product is once set it is infusible or impervious to heat and will not crack or be distorted as is commonlyv the case with the usual cements used in ordinary embossing practice.

Another advantage incident to my invention is that the material may be supplied printing may to the printer in sheets of the desired dimensions so that he may make his own embossing dies, and furthermore, in the operation of making such embossing dies, especially in the case where one of the dies is to be made of the composite or metallic faced phenolic plate above mentioned, by merely using an interposed sheet of foil or paper between the male and female dies during the making of the die, provision may be made for sufficient clearance between the working walls or edges of the vmale and female dies, thus obviating the routing or trimming usually required.

VVith'the above recited objects and others of a similar nature in view my invention consists in the construction, combination and arrangement of parts set forth in and falling within the scope of the appended claim. 1 i

I will now proceed to describe one embodiment of my invention and one manner in which a die may be produced, as this will be sufficient for understanding on the part of those skilled in the art, but I wish it to be understood that I do not confine myself to the specific manner or steps set forth herein as to the making of the die or dies, as this may be varied without departing from the spirit of the invention.

In the accompanying drawings:

Figure 1 is a view illustrating conventionally the bed and platen of a press upon which the die may be made and showing the relative location of the die making elements.

Fig. 2 is a similar view showing the platen closed against the bed of a press in the act of making the die.

Fig. 3 is a plan view of a die member made in accordance with my invention.

Fig. 4 is a cross sectional view taken through a pair of dies such as are necessary for embossing.

Referring now to the accompanying drawings in detail, the letter A indicates the bed of an ordinary press, such as a Gordon type of press, while B is the rocking laten thereof. One manner of practising t e invention is to fasten to the bed of the press in the usual manner, a chase'l carrying a plate or etching 2 with which the original rst be done, this plate or etching 2 in the practice ofmy invention as described herein, forming the male die for the embossing. Of course it may be of the usual material, such as steel or the like, or if desired, may be made of a phenolic condensation material. In the making of the female die member I fasten to the tympan paper 3 of the platen acomposite plate indicated as an entirety by the numeral Al, this plate comprising a face layer of metal such as lead, illustrated at 5, an intermediate layer of a phenolic condensation product shown at 6 ,and a backing layer of fibrous material,such as paper shown at 7; a suitable cement being employed between the fibrous backing layer and the tympan paper for cementing such composite plate to such tympan paper and in proper position'relative to the male die, or printing or etching plate 2. In the making of the female die I may proceed as follows:

A sheet of material, such as paper or foil, indicated conventionally-at 8 is placed over the composite plate 4 and the platen is closed up against the bed of the press, as shown in Fig. 2, thus pressing or forcing the raised or printing section of the male die against this paper sheet and into the composite plate 4, thus producing in the latter depressions which are complementary to the raised portions of the male die. The intermediate sheet of paper 8 is employed in order to insure that suflicient clearance will be made between the confronting faces of the male die and the complementary walls of the depressions of the female die, so that when the actual embossing of the stationery or paper is being carried out, such embossed portions will stand forth clearly and with properly rounded surfaces and without cutting or tearing the paper. Of course if sufficient clearance did not exist between the male and female embossing sections of the dies the paper would be liable to be shirred or cut, and thus ruined, as will be readily understood. It is usually desirable to repeat'this operation of closing up the platen against the bed and with the interposed clearance forming sheet, several times in order to gradually form the female die, as under these conditions but little pressure is required and better results or a more perfect female die is obtained.

It is to be understood that prior to putting the composite sheet 4, from which the female die is formed, on the press, this sheet is heated sufficiently to enable the latter to readily take the impression of the male die. and that after such male die has been impressed in this composite plate a sufficient number of times to properly form the female die such plastic layer is permitted to set or harden and to assume an infusible state so that subsequently it will not be subject to changes of form even though this die be used in connection with the hot embossing process.

When a suflicientnumber of presses of the male die against the composite plate 4 have been made to form a female die of the proper dimensions of depth and the like, the sheet of paper 8 is removed and the ordinary printing or embossing operation may be proceeded with provided the phenolic condensation has properly set to its infusible state, this resulting from cooling which takes place in a very few minutes.

If it is desired to produce embossing results of sharply defined face forming portions and well tapered or rounded off body supporting bases, the male die is forced directly into the composite plate 4 without the interposition of the clearance forming sheet 8 and later this sheet is interposed and impressions of only a partial depth with the male die against the plate 4 are made.

It will be readily understood that if necessary, the male die may be made from bakelite, or a composition including the same through the agency of an ordinary mold which may be engraved or produced by embedding the design therein.

One advantage incident to the use of the plate 4, which as above stated. has a facing layer or sheet of metal, such as lead, is that it may be hand-finished or engraved to show greater details of shading, stipple work or any other designs which the printer may consider desirable for the particular work in hand, these details being additional to those appearing on and resulting from the original male die or printing plate.

Of course, if desired, a male die can be produced in the manner above described by simple inversion, that is, by using a female die which is applied under pressure against the composite plate to form raised embossing surfaces on the latter, thereby making the male die.

What I claim is:

An embossing die comprising male and female members, one of said members having a metallic embossing face, and a body of hard phenolic condensation material intimately united with and constituting a backing for the embossing face.

Signed at New York, in the county of New York and State of New York this 8th day of December, A. D. 1916.

EMIL E. NOVOTNY. 

